One Golden Day

As I write this blog post, I sit on the balcony of my hotel room in Marathopolis. The juicy blue of the swimming pool is just below me, and slightly further ahead, the darker sparkle of the Ionian Sea. My swimsuit is still damp from an afternoon spent snorkelling, drifting along with the sea bream through the wreck of a sunken merchant ship from World War II. My legs are propped up on the rail, which is lined with the blue and green sea glass and muted shells my children meticulously scavenged from the little beach of a quiet cove. Not too far away, there’s the smell of a woodfire grill, and later tonight we’ll eat pork souvlaki and cool tzatziki at the restaurant with the tables on the sand. I’ll nag everyone to put down their Uno game and watch the sunset, and they’ll groan and say they saw it yesterday, but I won’t put up a fight, settling into the sound of water lapping so close to my feet and the saturated pink of the sky.

What Can a Day Away Say?

Every holiday is a collection of memories and a reflection of a person. A holiday can be a great setting to reveal something about a character. Maybe your character’s idea of perfection is reaching the top of a particularly steep Munro just in time to see the sun shouldering through the clouds. For another character, it’s that early morning visit to the archaeological site she’s read so much about; imagine her awe at wandering through the stone walls that others have wandered through nearly 2,000 years ago. For another, it could simply be that cool glass of lemonade enjoyed in his garden after a luxurious afternoon of escaping into a particularly delicious book.

Whatever it is, a summer holiday inspires a feeling of freedom. The freedom of being away from work and responsibility, and choosing to spend time how we like. It’s a change in perspective and can inspire a moment of discovery, either about a place or about yourself.

Writing Prompt: Take an existing character and write about a single day from their summer holiday.